Behind
the rich blue luminous curtain, rippling, the pale blue luminous
letters
ripple, mingling with bright blue luminous melodies jingling with
jujubes,
in the black-crow licorice dark. In light, caught, the letters,
transfixed,
stiffen. Brighter than licked lollipops, livelier than soda in
sunlight,
lovelier than sunshine on cellophane the colors shine: popsicle orange
and lemon-ice white, cotton-candy pink and mint-jelly green,
cherry-soda
red and raspberry-jello red. Cellophane crackles in the
green-and-red-tinted
dark. Thick with purple shadows, a dim room appears. In the
center stands a vertical ladder, from the top of which a narrow shaft
of
yellow light falls diagonally down, cutting across one end of a bed and
illuminating two round white feet sticking up at the bottom of a blue
blanket.
A white rabbit, wearing one red nightcap on each tall ear, lies on his
back, asleep. As he exhales, with a whistling sound, the blanket
under his chin rolls down to his feet. As he inhales, with a
snoring
sound, the blanket over his feet rolls up to his chin. Over his
head
a dream appears: he is sawing a log in half. As the saw cuts
through
the log a piece falls out of the dream and hits him on the head.
He sits up, rubbing his head. A red throbbing bump grows higher
and
higher, pushing up his hand, and then grows lower and disappears.
The rabbit yawns and stretches and removes both nightcaps.
Putting
on a pair of large round black eyeglasses he walks over to a little
stove
and begins to fry an egg, flipping it up in the air and catching it in
his pan. He changes hands, flips it up in the air, and holds out
the pan waiting. The egg does not return. Sighing, the
rabbit
walks over to the ladder and begins to climb.He pokes his head out of
his
hole into a bright green clearing. In the near distance stand
several
thin black trees, each with three or four leaves. Beside the hole
lies the fried egg. The rabbit picks it up and disappears into
his
hole. From behind one tree an orange snout with a black nose pops
out, followed by a V-shaped frown. In long white eyes, little
black
pupils move to the left and right. The fox tiptoes quickly to
another
tree, no thicker than one of his eyebrows, and disappears entirely
behind
it. His foot peeps out and tiptoes across the grass, followed by
his leg, which stretches to twice its length and stops behind another
tree;
the rest of the fox shoots across to the new tree in an orange blur and
disappears behind it. His frowning head peeps out. He looks
to the left and right. With hunched shoulders he tiptoes over to
the hole. He is orange except for his white toes, his white
fingers,
and the broad white patch that stretches from the top of his chest to
the
bottom of his belly. Reaching behind his back, he brings forward
a huge red firecracker. He lights the firecracker, pushes it
upside
down into the hole, and tiptoes a few paces away. With his back
to
the hole he squeezes his eyes shut and blocks his ears with his
fingers.
The rabbit flips his egg and holds out the pan. The egg does not
return. Frowning. He looks up and sees the firecracker. The
egg is speared on the sizzling wick. He climbs the ladder,
removes
the egg, and pushes the firecracker up out of the hole. The
firecracker
rolls along the grass and stops behind the fox, who stands with his
fingers
in his ears. After a while he opens his eyes, removes his fingers
from his ears, and turns around. When he sees the sizzling
firecracker
at his feet his eyes spring out of head an the ends of springs.
He
dives headfirst onto the grass, landing with a crash and covering his
head
with his arms. The sizzling wick goes out. The fox looks
up.
He rises to his feet, walks to the firecracker, picks it up, and
smiles.
The firecracker explodes. When the smoke clears. The fox is still
standing. He is entirely black, except for his white eyes and his
white smile. The rabbit sits in a rocking chair by the stove,
reading
a newspaper. The frying pan is attached to one foot. As he rocks
back the egg flips into the air. As he rocks forward the egg
falls
into the pan. The fox approaches the rabbit hole, pulling a rope
attached to a shiny black cannon. He places a shiny black
cannonball
into the shiny black cannon, tips the front of the cannon into the
hole,
and lights a wick at the cannon’s back. He turns around, shuts
his
eyes, and blocks his ears. The front of the cannon swings up,
followed
by a fried egg, and turns all the way around until it is pointing at
the
fox. The fried egg goes back into the hole. The fox turns
around,
sees the cannon, and looks at the audience. The cannon goes
off.
When the smoke clears, the fox is standing with a hole in his stomach,
through which a tree is visible. He reaches down and zips up the
hole. Then he collapses onto the grass. A new scene begins
on the left, traveling to the right and erasing the old scene.
The
fox enters pulling a rope tied to the top of a bending tree. He
hammers
a peg into the ground , ties the rope to a trigger attached to the peg,
lays the rope in a circle near the hole, and places inside the circle a
bright orange carrot that rests at the end of the trigger. The
fox
sits down against a nearby tree, crosses his legs, crosses his hands
behind
his head, closes his eyes, and begins to snore. Above his head a
dream appears: he is seated at a table with a napkin tied under his
chin
and the rabbit bound hand and foot on a plate before him. The
rabbit’s
head pops out of the hole. He sniffs, adjusts his eyeglasses, and
sees the carrot. He climbs out of the hole, steps into the
rope-circle,
and removes the carrot. Reaching into a pocket in his skin, he
removes
a leg of roast chicken and places it on the trigger. Crunching on
the carrot he steps out of the circle and sees the fox asleep against a
tree with a dream over his head. He walks over to the fox, unties
the dream-rabbit, who runs away, and puts in its place a huge red
firecracker.
Then he goes back into his hole. The dream-fox bites into the
firecracker,
which explodes. The real fox wakes up. He spits out a mouthful of
teeth.. In the circle of rope he sees the chicken leg. He
walks
over to the rim of the circle and frowns down, tapping his foot.
As he stares, lines of odor twist from the chicken leg to his twitching
black nose. He bends over, reaches toward the chicken leg, and
suddenly
straightens up. He looks at the audience and shakes his head
slyly.
Reaching into a pocket he removes a cane. Gently he prods the
chicken
leg until rolls from the trigger. He flinches, but nothing
happens.
Shrugging, he picks up the chicken leg. Thrusts it deep into his mouth,
and removes a clean white bone. He licks his chops, rubs his
belly,
and tosses the bone away. It lands on the trigger. The
fox’s
hair stands on end but nothing happens. Frowning, he pokes the
trigger
with his cane. Nothing happens. He takes out a sledge
hammer
and slams the trigger. Nothing happens. He steps inside the
rope and kicks the trigger. Nothing happens. As he wipes
his
forehead with a red handkerchief, a small blue bird flies
overhead.
A tiny blue feather flutters down. The fox watches the feather as
it slowly falls, rocking back and forth, descending past his eyes, his
neck, his stomach, his knees. It lands gently on the
trigger.
The rope yanks the fox into the air and out of sight, accompanied by
the
sound of a whistling rocket. A distant explosion rocks the
forest.
The fox enters on the left, leaning on a crutch. One leg is bound
in a cast and white bandages cover his head. He sits down beside
the rabbit hole and thinks. A lightbulb appears above his
head.
He reaches up and turns it off. Tearing off his bandages and
throwing
away the crutch, he removes from his pocket a hammer, nails, and pieces
of wood. He begins building furiously, working up a cloud of dust
that conceals him completely. When the dust clears a vast blue
chute
is visible. Beginning in front of the rabbit hole, it rises
slowly
toward the right on taller and taller posts, passing through the forest
where small deer gaze up in wonder, passing over the treetops as an old
owl frowns and scratches his head, passing beneath a rainbow into the
sky,
passing clouds and jagged mountaintops until at last it reaches a tall
brown cliff on which a vast boulder rests atop a tiny pebble.
Beside
the boulder, reclining in a yellow and red lawn chair, wearing green
sunglasses
and sipping lemonade, is the fox. He picks up a straw, tears one
end, and blows the paper wrapper at the boulder. The boulder tips
onto the blue chute and starts to roll down. It rolls past clouds
and jagged peaks, it frightens a buzzard, it flattens a passing
airplane,
it snaps apart the rainbow, it roars over treetops past the startled
owl,
and terrified deer take cover as it thunders past. The rabbit’s
head
pops out of the hole. Grasping the end of the chute, with a quick
motion he bends it upward slightly. Then he ducks out of
sight.
The boulder follows the curve of the chute and sails into the air,
hitting
a distant treetop that catches it, bends backwards, and springs
forward,
flinging the boulder back. The fox is standing on the cliff with
his head to one side and one hand cupped over an ear. He removes
a watch from his pocket and frowns. As he turns his head to look
down, the boulder slams into him, rolling over him and flattening him
like
dough. For a few moments the fox lies like a colorful
shadow.
Then one end peels up and he rolls into a tube. His eyes move
back
and forth in the tube. One leg emerges, one arm, a bushy
tail.
The fox stands up. Cracks appear in his body and he falls apart
with
a tinkling sound. The rabbit is lying on his back on the floor,
doing
sit-ups. He stands up and begins to do quick knee-bends. He
lifts a dumbbell over his head. As he begins to skip rope, a
sudden
crash shakes his house. Frowning, he looks up. The fox,
eyes
bulging and teeth gnashing, is trapped in the hole at his waist.
His arms are pinned to his sides. The rabbit breaks into a
smile.
Pushing over a small yellow stool, he puts on a pair of boxing gloves
and
begins to punch the fox’s head as the circle slowly closes.